Saturday, April 21, 2012

In-street pedestrian crosswalk signs? We’ll take a few dozen, please!

by Michelle Stenzel

It’s been Illinois law now for nearly two years that drivers of motorized vehicles must stop for pedestrians crossing the street in a marked crosswalk, even on crosswalks where there is no stop sign or stop light. That type of crosswalk is called an “uncontrolled crosswalk”, an apt name that reflects the often-chaotic feel fro the perspective of a person on foot trying to cross it! So under the law, when a person is on a crosswalk trying to cross the street, a driver must stop completely to allow them to cross, as if there were a red stoplight signal that had suddenly appeared.

Perhaps it’s because drivers are unaware of the law. Perhaps they need a visual reminder of the law. Perhaps there needs to be a physical object present that registers in their mind and makes them suddenly recognize that there’s a crosswalk and other street users present who have the right of way.

There’s now a tool available that covers all three of those factors: The in-street stop for pedestrian signs. These are three-feet-high signs that are permanently mounted in the middle of the street at a crosswalk and that clearly proclaim “State law/Stop for (pedestrian symbol) within crosswalk”.

You may have seen the non-permanent version on Wells Street south of Division, which we featured in this prior post. We have learned in an interview with a staff member of the community center nearby that they purchased the signs after a woman picking up her grandchild from their daycare was hit and injured by a car driver. The staff rolls the signs out each morning and takes them in at night.

The permanent in-street pedestrian signs are one of the items available to aldermen citywide to be purchased using their annual menu funds. We have requested Alderman Michele Smith use a portion of her menu funds to install them in our ward, and she has expressed support for the initiative. Her staff is currently working to analyze the best spots to place these new pedestrian safety tools.

Map of suggestion locations for crosswalk signs, courtesy of John Krause.

Below is the content of our letter to Alderman Smith. Are there any suggested locations that you think are in particularly dire need of these signs? Did we miss any good spots? You can comment below, or write to us at BikeWalkLincolnPark@gmail.com You can write to Alderman Smith directly to express your support for the use of these signs at YourVoice@ward43.org

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Dear Alderman Smith,

We're writing today to ask you to spend a small portion of this year's aldermanic funds on In-road "State Law Stop for Pedestrians" signs in order to improve pedestrian safety in the 43rd ward.

Problem:

Illinois State Law 625 ILCS 5/11-1002 requires drivers to come to a complete stop and yield the right-of-way to pedestrians attempting to cross the street within a marked crosswalk where no traffic signal is present.

However, in spite of the law, drivers almost never stop for pedestrians attempting to cross the street at one of our many unsignalized marked crosswalks. This is a serious threat to pedestrian safety, and it undermines the foot traffic on which our local retail businesses depend.

Proposal:

Install in-street pedestrian crossing signs (R1-6a) at unsignalized crosswalks where there are two lanes of traffic for cars.

This is less expensive and far more effective than the current approach of mounting signs on poles in each sidewalk or installing (and maintaining) special pavement markings.

Benefits:

Prevents pedestrians from being struck by cars, and prevents drivers from unknowingly violating the law or injuring a pedestrian.

Publicizes the new crosswalk law in a highly visible, unequivocal, fair, and cost-effective way.

Makes streets safer and more attractive to pedestrians, encouraging the foot traffic that drives local retail business.

Proposed locations:

We have proposed 30 locations.

On Stockton Drive at:

Chicago History Museum Parking Lot (Menomonee)

Nature Boardwalk/Green City Market (Lincoln)

Farm in the Zoo (Wisconsin)

Bus stop near Cafe Brauer (Armitage)

Conservatory (Belden)

Bus stop on Stockton just north of Fullerton around 2500 North

Bus stop near Roslyn

Bus stop near Wrightwood

On Clark Street at:

Arlington

Roslyn

St. James

Deming

Schubert

On Wells Street at:

St. Paul

Menomonee

On Sedgwick at:

Concord

Willow

On Armitage at:

Cleveland

Mohawk

Howe

On Webster at:

Sedgwick

Burling

On Lincoln at:

Montana

Altgeld

Lill

On Fullerton at:

Seminary

On Wrightwood at:

Wilton

On Diversey at:

Wilton

Hampden

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If you’re reading this and live in another ward, we urge you to write to your own alderman to request them on streets in your neighborhood. Forward them a link to this post! We’d love to see these signs all over the city.

Also interesting to compare to designated Pedestrian Streets: http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/Illinois/chicagozoning/title17chicagozoningordinance/chapter17-3businessandcommercialdistrict?f=templates$fn=altmain-nf.htm$3.0#JD_17-3-0500

I disagree that "People are not getting run over and killed." According to the 2011 City of Chicago Pedestrian Crash Analysis report, in 2009, there were 3,277 vehicle-pedestrian crashes that resulted in injury or death (34 deaths). Of those crashes, a full 35.5% occurred while the pedestrian was in a crosswalk. -- Michelle Stenzel

Quick update for anyone who reads this: Alderman Smith has included 19 of the locations on her 2012 menu funds requests to the city, so we're another step closer to making the placement of these signs a reality! The locations are basically on the Stockton, Clark, and Lincoln corridors on the map above, as well as two on Diversey. I'll post again with further news. -- Michelle Stenzel

Thanks for the update, Michelle. I just checked with Alderman Harry Osterman's office in the 48th Ward. They've confirmed that "Stop for Pedestrians" signs in Andersonville at Clark & Olive and Clark & Summerdale are part of this year's menu projects.

I inquired about these signs with our local alderman's office and was told that they could not be installed by the city office on a state highway (irving park road). Not sure where to start with petitioning the state?

However, what is the intersection that you're considering for the sign? IPR is mostly a four-lane street, and these signs I believe work best in a two-lane environment. If the intersection badly needs help because it's too wide, perhaps you should consider advocating for a pedestrian refuge island instead. These can also be paid for from menu funds (although relatively $) and I know CDOT can definitely install them on state highways, because Michele Smith in our ward had one installed on North Avenue at Orchard, and North is also definitely a state road. (Hm, now that I think about it, I'm not sure why CDOT can put in an island but "can't" put up a little sign? Perhaps you can ask your alderman to double check on that.) Best of luck to you and report back any successes! -- Michelle Stenzel

About Us

We welcome anyone who wants to help make biking and walking in the Lincoln Park neighborhood safe and enjoyable to contact us, and join in on events! Co-leaders are Michelle Stenzel and Michael Reynolds.